Terminal connector for spark-plugs.



0. w. BEGKI TERMINAL CONNECTOR FOR SPARKPLUGS. APPLIOATION FILED OCT. 15, 1910.

z M ads-7 111 4 I mtg/(EH49 Patented Sept.9,1913.

barren was PJENT orrien.

CHARLES W. BEGK, 02E EOCKYILLE CENTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, W0 MIQEIGAN MQTQR fiP EOIALTIES COMPANY, OF D'ETBfiI'R, MICHIGAN, A.

GORPORATION 0F MICHIGAN.

TERMINAL GONNECTOR FOR SPARK-PLUGS.

peeifieatlonof Letters Patent.

Patented se t'. 9, 191a.

Application filed October 15, I'M-0. Serial No. 587,151.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES N. Back, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Rockville Center, county of Nassau, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Terminal Connectors for sparlePlugs, of which the following is a specification.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a spark plug showing my improved termin'al connector in position; Fig. 2 a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the connector; Fig. 3 a plan View thereof; Fig. 4 a similar view showing the switch and locking lever in position to lock the connector to the spark plug and open the sparking gap; and Fig. 5 a similar view with the switch and locking lever in position to release the connector from the spark plug. Fig. 6 shows the manner in which the yoke is attached to the socket. I g

It is the main object of this invention to provide a terminal connector of sim 10 form by means of which it may be readi y determined, under ordinary and usual working conditions, whether or not any particular plug is sparking. This is accomplished by providing a terminal with a switch device and a pair of supplemental visible sparking points so that by opening the switch a spark will be visible between the supplemental sparking points if the sparkplug is Working properly. It will therefore be seen that in order to test any particular spark plug it Will only be necessary to open the terminal switch and to observe the supplemental 0 sparking points when cranking the engine. it is manifest that any one of the spark plugs may be tested without detaching the terminal connector from the spark plug.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the connector will be locked to the spark plug terminal when the switch lever is moved to open the sparking gap.

Referring to the various parts by numerals, l designates the spark plug which may be of any suitable construction formed with the usual post terminal -2 to which the terminal connector is adapted to be attached.

The terminal connector consists of an insulating block. 3 of suitable material preferably the usual hard fiber insulation. To one end of this insulation block is clamped a forwardly extending contact plate 4 which carries at its forward end a rigid clamping jaw 5, said jaw being offset from the longi-' ing formed with a recess 9 in its inner edge to receive the spark plug terminal. The jaw 8 is adapted to be swung outwardly away from the jaw 7 to release the post terminal, as shown clearly in Fig. 5 of the drawmgs. termed the outer end, of the insulation blockB, is secured between the upper and lower plates of a flat metal yoke 10. The

upper plate of said yoke is formed with straps 11 which are adapted to be bent around the insulation block and under the lower plate of said. yoke, as shown clearly in Fig. 1., to securely clamp and rigidly hold the insulation block within the yoke. This upper plate of said yoke. is also formed with an upwardly and forwardly extending locking lip 12, said lip being cut out of the main body of the plate, thereby forming an opening 13, for a purpose which will be hereinafter described. The yoke 10 is attached to a socket 14 in an suitable manner. As shown in the drawing, it is connected by a bar 15 which lies within the yoke, the ends thereof being passed through apertures in the front wall of the socket, said ends being bent over on the inner side of said wall, thereby rigidly and permanently clamping the yoke to saidsocket.

Pivotally mounted upon the contact plate l is a switch and locking lever 16, said lever being formed with one straight edge 17and the cam 18 on the opposite side of the pivot from the straight edge 17, said cam being preferably on an arc struck from the center of the pivot. The outer end of this switch lever is formed with a forwardly projecting contact lip 19 which is adapted to overlie the inner end of the contact jaw 8 when the switch lever is arranged arallel with the longitudinal center line of The other end, or what might be econnector, I as shown in Fig. 3. In this position of the,

lever the end thereof is approximately in contact with the jaw 8 and locks the same in its closed position and in contact with the spark plug terminal when the device is in position on a spark plug. The other end of the lever extends across the space between the contact plate fand the contact yoke 10, and electrically connects said two contact parts. The extreme outer end of the lever in this position is engaged under the contact lip 12 so as to insure a close electrical connection between the yoke 10 and said lever. The lever is provided at one edge with a finger piece 20 by which it may be readily operated.

The adjoining ed es of the contact plate 4 and the contact yoke 10 are spaced av suitable distance apart, preferably at such a distance that the current will not, under ordinary conditions, jump across the space be tween said plates. Each contact part is provided with a central sparkin point 21 which approach each other so that it a spark passes from one of said contact plates to the other it will jump. across the space between the said two sparking points. It will, of course,

' be understood that the same result may be obained by providing only one sparking point. It is manifest that the current wilt jump across the space ofiering the least resistance.

The insulation 22 of the terminal wire 23 is fitted within the socket and the wire is passed through an opening 24 in said socket, and then down through the opening 13 in the yoke, the end of said wire being secured to the under-side of the yoke, as indicated in Fig. 2. It will, of course, be understood that the terminal wire may be connected to the socket or to the contact yoke 10 in any suitable manner. l

. When it is desired to test the plug to ascertain whether or not current is properly flowing through the plug the switch lever 16 is thrown to the positionsh'own in Fig. 4 so that the cam 18 maintains the contact jaws 8-in its locked position and the two sparking points :21 will be uncovered. This permits it to be readily observed whether or not current passes from one of said points to the other. When it is desired to detach the connector from the spark plug terminal the switch lever is reversed and brought to the position shown in Fig. 5. In this position the straight edge 17 of the switch lever permits the contact jaw 8 to be swung open, thereby releasing the connector from the post terminal.

Having now fully described my invention what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A terminal connector comprising a block of insulating matcrial, two contact parts secured thereto and insulated from each other, means carried by one of said parts for connecting it to a terminal wire, a pivoted clamping jaw carried by the other part and adapted to connect it to a post terminal of a spark plug, a pivoted switch lever carried by one of said parts and adapted to bridge the space between the contact parts to .electrically connect said parts, and means whereby the switch lever will lock the piv- I contact parts, and secure the locking means in its locked position.

3. A terminal connector comprising a contact part adapted to be connected to a terminal wire, a contact part adapted to be connected to a spark plug, means for insulating these two parts from each other, means carried by one of said contact parts for attaching the connector to a spark plug terminal, and movable means for bridging the gap between the two contact parts, said means serving to lock the attaching means to a spark plug when it is in position to bridge the gap between the two contact parts.

4. A terminal connector comprising a block of insulating material, a contact yoke connected to one end of said block, a socket connected to said contact yoke, a terminal wire connected to said socket and to said yoke, a contact part connected to the other end of said insulating block and provided with a forwardly extending rigid jaw, said contact. parts being separated to form a spark gap, a pivoted jaw carried by said contact part, a switch lever pivoted on said contact part and adapted to bridge the gap between the two contact parts and to lock the connector to the spark plug when. in its bridging position, said switch lever in one transverse position uncovering the gap between the contact parts and locking the clamping jaws in clamping position, and in the reverse position releasing said clamping jaws.

5. A terminal connector comprising a block of insulation, a pair of contact parts connected thereto and separated a suitable f contact parts, a clamping lip carried by one of said parts and adapte to engage the end of the switch lever no its bridging os ition, a swinging clamping jaw carrie by the contact part to which the lever is PlV-f oted, a clamping lip formed on the lever and adapted to overlie the swinging clamp- .ing jaw, said lever being formed with a cam surface adapted to engage said clamping movement and also adapted in a second position to uncover the space between the corn tact parts and maintain the clamping jaw locked, and in its reversed position to uncover the spacebetween the contact parts and release the clamping jaw.

7. A terminal connector comprising a block.=of insulation, a yoke secured to and embracing one end of said insulation, a socket secured to the closed end of said yoke by lugs integral with said yoke, an upwardly and forwardly extending locking lip formed on said yoke, a contact plate secured to the other endof the insulation and formed with a forwardly extending rigid terminal en gaging jaw, a pivoted jaw carried by said rigid aw and a switch lever ivoted on said contact plate and adapted to ridge the gap between the yoke and the rear end of said plate, said lever in its bridging position locking the pivoted jaw in position to engage the spark plug terminal;

8. A terminal connector comprising a block of insulation, a pair of contact parts connected thereto and separated a suitable distance from each other, one of said parts being formed with a sparking point projected toward the other part, means for connectinga terminal wire to one of said parts, a

switch lever carried by the other part and adapted to bridge the gap between the two contact parts, a swinging clamping jaw carried byline art to which the lever is pivoted, a dam .ormed on said lever and adapted to enage said swinging clamping jaw to hold .it in its locked position, when said lever bridges the gap between the two contact parts.

9. A terminal connector comprising a block of insulation, a pair of contact parts connected thereto and separated a suitable distance from each other to form a spark gap between them, means for connecting a;

terminal wire to one of said parts, two opposed jaws carried by the other contact part and adapted to grip .a spark plu terminal between them, one of said jaws being pivoted and adapted to swing outwardly away from the other jaw and a locking means adapted to be moved into engagement with the movable jaw to hold said jaw against outward swinging movement, said locking means being adapted to bridge the gap between the contact parts.

10. A terminal connector comprising a block of insulating material, a contact part connected therewith, a terminal wire con-- nected tosaid contact part, a second contact part connected to the said insulating block and formed with a forwardly extending rigid jaw, a spark gap being arranged between said two contact parts, a pivoted jaw carried by said contact part and arranged to swing toward and from the rigid jaw, a switch lever pivoted on the contact part carrying the rigid jaw and adapted to bridge the gap between the contact parts and to lock the movable jaw when said lever is in its bridging position, a cam formed on said switch lever, and engaging the movable jaw whereby said lever in one transverse posit-ion will uncover the gap between the contact parts and lock the clamping jaws, and in its reverse transverse position uncovering said gap and releasing the clamping jaws.

CHARLES W. BECK. 

